Organization: American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation
Target Populations: Physicians and other health care providers
The Intervention: Researchers at the ABIM Foundation identified physicians who are early adopters of quality improvement measurement and improvement tools. Focusing in particular on those working in small or solo practices, they filmed interviews with the physicians to learn about their motivations, strategies, and the results of their efforts.
On the DVD, 39 physicians from across the country describe how the new quality measures have improved patient care and efficiency in their practices. One doctor uses an electronic tracking system to ensure that all of his cardiac patients are taking aspirin; another uses data to address unjustified variation in lung cancer care among his patients. Many of the physicians speak of the professional and personal satisfaction they have gained through the performance measurement and improvement process.
The physicians were identified with the help of 20 organizations, including certifying boards, medical societies, and accreditation organizations.
The DVD is a part of a five-year ABIM initiative, Putting Quality into Practice, aimed at fostering doctors' use of data to improve clinical performance and guiding certifying boards and accreditation organizations in the development of standards for evaluating physicians.
For further information: To order a free copy of the DVD, visit the ABIM Foundation's Web site at www.abimfoundation.org/pqip_video.htm or call Helen Egner at 215-446-3530. Excerpts of the video are also available on the ABIM Web site.